Course content

This course focuses on a specific ‘brand’ of politicized
religiosity – namely, Political Islam. With questions such as ‘Who
are Islamists?’ and ‘What do they want?’ rampant, in this course we
go beyond the particulars of the religious discourse. Instead, we
draw on a conception of ideology as a sum total of lived
experiences in order to elaborate the identity and history of
Islamists that have shaped their contemporary tactics of
contention. Finally, while Political Islam is a broad and
multifaceted topic, at the end of the course, students are expected
to be proficient in the appropriate empirical, theoretical and
methodological tools needed to aptly understand Islamist
activism.

Topics:

Studying Muslims and the Middle East

Religion, Secularism and International Relations

The Study of Ideology

Islam as a vehicle of opposition

‘New’ Islamic Movements: Violence and Social Service

Political Islam and Women

Islam: From Opposition to Power

Islamic Governance

Islamism at Home: Muslim Political Activism in Europe

Studying Islamism at Ground Level: Fieldwork Methodology

Learning outcome

Upon completion of the course, students should:

Be able to rise above politicized academic and public discourses
on Islamists and demonstrate a familiarity with a history of their
identity

Be able to demonstrate how and why ‘Islamists’ engaging a
particular ‘type’ of contention finds legitimacy and credibility in
society.

Be able to challenge ‘mainstream’ approaches to studying
Islamism and engage in an interdisciplinary approach that draws on
non-traditional understandings of religious activism, ideology and
rebellion.

Be able to demonstrate empirical knowledge of major strands of
Islamist activism

Recommended prerequisites

Students are expected to have a basic theoretical and empirical
knowledge of international politics. While knowledge of Middle East
politics is not required, participants can read Owen, Roger. State,
Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East (New
York: Routledge, 2004) in order to acquire a better understanding
of regional politics. Despite being a course in the Department of
Political Science students with other disciplinary backgrounds are
strongly encouraged to enroll in the course.

Education

SRM: Elective III

The course is open to all students at the department

Bachelorlevel: 20 ECTS
Masterlevel: 15 ECTS

Studyboard

Department of Political Science, Study Council

Course type

Single subject courses (day)

Duration

1 block

Schedulegroup

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Teaching and learning methods

Sessions will be a combination of lectures by the instructor,
visiting speakers and in-class discussions.

Language

English

Literature

John Collins and Ross Glover. Collateral Language: A User’s
Guide to America’s New War (New York: New York University Press,
2002)

Edward Said. Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books,
1979)

Lisa Anderson. “Searching Where the Light Shines: Studying
Democratization in the Middle East” Annual Review of Political
Science (2006): 189-214.